Chapter 2: Inaccurate Mirror

Proto's ocular systems began to sort themselves out. He had been in the Exo equivalent of unconscious. Wherever he was, it was cold. Instead of the usual darkness he was used to, the entire interface was white. He wasn't still teleporting, were the sensors damaged? He experimentally moved his head around and saw some of the white move. Hesitantly he tried to move his arm and felt it sink. Snow! He was on a snowbank. He must have been sent to Europa. Proto carefully came to his feet.

"Themis, you there?"

Themis materialized at his side.

"Yep, still in one piece too"

"Ok, now where on Europa are we?" Proto asked while looking around. The sky had a bank of gray clouds, currently depositing snow onto him. The terrain was like anywhere else on Europa. Frozen, white, and flat. No topographical landmarks made themselves known to him.

"Proto, we're not on Europa. At least, I'm pretty sure we're not. I can't get any kind of signal. Vex, Fallen, pyramid, Elsie, Vanguard. None of it," Themis explained.

"…mmm. Not good," Proto said while looking around.

"Understatement of this life," Themis deadpanned.

"Let's get walking," Proto said, beginning to walk in a random direction.

"Wait, wait, why?" Themis near demanded.

"You have a better idea?" Proto challenged.

"I'll… keep sweeping for signals," Themis said before he disappeared.

Proto continued to trudge through the ice and snow for the better part of an hour. The intensity of snowfall growing and receding the entire time.

"I managed to get something," Themis said. "My sensors were scrambled, turns out we dropped in very close to the magnetic north of the planet we're on. A very faint, electromagnetic signal. It's far from here, and almost feels like a byproduct of an electrical grid."

"But otherwise…" Proto urged after a moment.

"Nothing," Themis answered. "It seems we're well and truly alone," A momentary pause. "I assume you can feel it?"

"Yes. This world is brimming with paracausal energy. Not quite light or dark, almost a mixture of the two. And-" Proto's speech cut as a break in the clouds formed. The Moon stared down at him. He looked on intently, the growing feeling that the moon was indeed looking at him as he studied it back. The rock orbiting around his home had no such feeling associated with it, but he was not concerned about a staring contest with a large satellite. He was looking for the scars of Hive activity that could be picked out from Earth. No such defacement marred this rock, but that was definitely The Moon.

Proto felt a beckoning. The same feeling when the shard of The Traveler gave him the light, or when the Europan Pyramid the dark. Tearing his gaze away from the foreign moon, Proto's gaze gravitated to a direction, perpendicular to his original path, which looked physically the exact same as his chosen direction but felt very different. It felt like the moon again but beckoning instead of watching.

"It wants us to draw closer," Proto began. "It promises questions and answers."

Themis scoffed at that. "Sounds a little too convenient."

"Once again, do we have anything better to do?" Proto challenged with a sigh before continuing his new pathing.

After about 15 minutes of more walking Proto came to an icy cliff face. Peering over the edge he saw what looked like an oasis. Technically he was in a desert. It had what looked like bamboo stalks and grass, with a small pond and flowing water around it. A far cry from the icy wasteland he had known for the past 75 minutes. A bridge led to it from a small opening in a purpose-built ice wall. Beyond this wall lie structures. A small town made of ice. He could see the silhouettes of a few people in towers overlooking a vast ocean further out. Canals and bridges connected different blocks, and an almost temple-like structure sat at the back with many stairs leading up to it. Large flaming braziers contained in decorative clay pots burned rebelliously in their climate.

Proto paused for a moment, now reassessing his situation. The vex were capable of time travel, and initially, it seemed he had somehow been flung back 14,000 years or so. But he would have heard of records of killer robots from forever ago. Something as impactful and significant as The Vex would have made a lasting mark on human history, assuming that unpowered primitive humans hadn't been wiped out within a week's time. Furthermore, Earth had been a dead planet in terms of paracausality before The Traveler arrived thousands of years ago. While records were scarce, the ones available indicated that Humanity had composite and artificial materials by that time. Towns and settlements wouldn't be made of ice when better options were available unless they were completely cut off from the rest of the world. Even then he should have picked up satellites and radio communications that connected the globe. Even if this were somehow after The Traveler's arrival and he just happened to be in the one dead spot on the planet, that didn't explain the presence of darkness.

Proto stopped this train of thought. Answers were imminent, and that pond was where they were. He made a running jump and glided down, landing directly between the pond and the cluster of bamboo. The air here was warm and moist, a stark contrast to what it had been moments before. This area was a concentration of paracausal energy and defied the small bits of climatology in his internal databases.

Approaching the pond, Proto saw two koi fish. One black with white markings, and one white with black markings, both swimming in a complicated and mesmerizing cycle. This was it. He almost chuckled at the absurdity of it. Paracausal koi. He sat cross-legged in front of the fish. For a few minutes, he just stared. Eventually, the koi started glowing. Softly at first, but then with greater intensity. At the same time, Proto raised his hands which were covered in black and white swirling energy, and placed them in the pond. Proto could now hear them in his mind.

'What are you? Alive and not. Filled with Chi, but always keeping it separate.' Came a feminine voice.

'In my dealings, it has always been impolite to ask questions before introducing yourself. It makes the situation a lot more tense than it needs to be.' Proto responded.

'You will give us the respect that we deserve! Do not assume that your age and power gives you authority over us!' Another voice, masculine this time, commanded.

Proto felt his jaw tighten at that.

'Calm yourself Tui,' the first voice spoke again, identifying the second. 'We are Tui and La. Spirits of the Ocean and Moon. Spirits of balance. You are almost older than us, and your power reflects that of a spirit,' La said, explaining Tui's comments.

'My name is Proto,' Proto began. 'I believe I am from a different reality. What you call Chi, I call Light and Dark. The Light deals with all things physical, and the Dark with more… mental aspects. As for my age, I have spent very little of that time alive. I was returned to the living by my Ghost around eight years ago,' Proto said.

Tui spoke next. 'This ghost is the presence we feel near you? A concentration of physical Chi that seems to hover right next to you,' he asked.

'Themis, yes. That is him... Oh, apologies. I never answered your initial question, La. As for why I seem to be alive and not at the same time, it's probably because of the circumstances of my existence. The Traveler, the source of this "physical Chi," sent out the Ghosts in a moment of self-sacrifice, who would find their light bearers that would in turn, ideally, protect Humanity. My resurrection may have returned some of my base human thinking to me, making my mind feel more alive and organic than it actually is." Proto said. It did seem a lot more unbelievable when he said it out loud.

'You are familiar with death, despite only having died one time,' Tui said.

'I have died many times. The Light keeps me from staying dead," Proto answered.

'Some would call you a god with that kind of power,' Tui said. Proto felt his feelings darken as memories of his dealings with so-called gods pushed their way to the front of his mind.

'You said human tendencies "returned" to you. You used to be a human?' La asked.

'Yes,' Proto answered. 'I was once a human. My brain was removed from my body and transformed into something more permanent before being placed into this body.'

'Why would you do that to yourself?' La asked.

'… It wasn't my choice. The Exo-human program was originally designed to save people who had terminal illnesses. I was… an unwilling test subject. I had no such disease that could not be treated or so severely afflicted my human body. They needed an initial test subject to see if their ideas had any merit and I was unlucky.'

Silence reigned for a time after that. Neither Proto, Tui, or La spoke through their connection. Eventually, the sun began to brighten the indigo sky. Stars were becoming washed out by the approaching dawn.

'I should go before I am discovered. Please, think on how I may return home. Call me in the way you have, should you have need of me or answers for my dilemma,' With that, Proto cut the connection and stood, briefly stretching his body before turning to leave.

Themis spoke up. "How did it go? Do we have a plan?"

"Unless we ask The Witness for help, we're stuck here until further notice. But I think I did manage to secure allies. Or at least, acquaintances," Proto said while beginning to climb the cliff face.

A/N: Hey there! Thanks for reading. This was a bit of a shorter chapter, but the next one will be longer Please review if you'd like. I always enjoy reading them, and feedback helps.